Screw-cap wrench.



E. L. FENSTERMAKER.

SCREW CAPWRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, i915.

1,1225,Q31 9 Patented May 8, 1917.

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"UNliTED BTATEB PATENT @FFlfQE EMANUEL L. FENSTERMAKER, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB OF ONE- THIRD TO FRANKLIN H. BURKHART, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

SCREW-CA1 WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 191%.

Application filed March 1, 1915. Serial No. 11,294.

To (6 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMANUEL L. Fnns'rnn- MAKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lancaster, Lancaster county, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented and discovered. certain new and useful Improvements in Screw-Cap renches, of which the following is a specification.

My said invention consists of certain improvements in the construction and arrangement of parts of wrenches for removing screw-caps from the tops of containers, such as fruit ars, cans, etc., whereby such a wrench is provided which is not only very convenient, but can be used without injury to the screw-cap, or container top, and will accomplish the result in an easy and convenient manner, all as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are made a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts,

Figure 1 is a plan view of one of my improved wrenches, or screw-cap removing devices, as it appears when in use, being shown on a jar top as when ready for use,

Fig. 2 a section through the tool, as seen when looking in the direction of the arrows from the dotted line 22 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 a plan view of the other side of the tool from that shown in Fig. 1 and separate from the jar top,

Fig. 4 an edge view of a modified form of the handle, and

Fig. 5 a perspective view of another form of shoe.

In said drawings, the portions marked A represent the handle, and B the shoe or clamping head of the wrench.

lhe handle A may be cast in one piece and of the form best shown in Fig. 2, or it may be of pressed metal of the formbest shown in Fig. 4:. Near its inner end it has an offset or shoulder, as at point 10, beyond which an ear 11 extends, to which the shoe B is hinged on a pair of aperturcd lugs or cars 1 and 2 located at equal distances inset from the respective ends of the shoe, and said shoe also has a pivot 12'.

Said shoe B is formed with a concave operating face to fit against the periphery of the jar top, the curvature of the face, which is adapted to impinge against said jar top, corresponding to the curvature thereof. The

edge of said shoe is curved in cross section, whereby it is adapted to fit into the groove formed near the upper edge of said jar top and thus be adapted to operate against said surface without in any manner injuring or distorting said top or the glass within. Said shoe is mounted on the handle A by means of a pivot 12 which extends through the aperture in the lug 1. A loop 13, of a size corresponding to the transverse curvature of the edge of the shoe B, and consisting of one or more strands of wire, is attached to the other lug 2 of said shoe at a point 14, being preferably extended through the perforation at said point and doubled around itself on the outside, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Said wire 13 forms a loop of suflicient size to embrace the screw top, and the projecting portion 3 of said shoe B serves as a shoulder-brace for the loop, and also acts as a guard to prevent the loop from slipping 05 the end of said shoe. The other end of the wire is attached to the handle A at a point 15, adjacent to pivot 12, but a distance therefrom substantially equal to the distance point 1 1 is from the same pivot. The attachment of the wire to the handle at point 15 is made in substantially the same manner as the attachment to the shoe B at point 14. By reason of pivoting the shoe to the handle at a point near one end of the shoe and attaching the wire 13 to the shoe at a point the same distance from its opposite end, an equal pressure is obtained throughout the entire length of the concave surface of the shoe against the jar top, and any danger of denting or marring the top is obviated. The two end portions 3 and 3 of the shoe are disposed respectively at equal distances from the apertures in the lugs 1 and 2, and this, with the curved portion of the shoe and the loop 13, forms a substantially circular gripping surface for uniformly engaging with the periphery of the jar cap, i. e. the several gripping elements are all brought into concentric alinement when the lever or handle A is oper ated. In Fig. 5 I have shown the'shoe with a fiat face for use to grip on the body of a jar when needed or desired.

The shoe B has the lug and shoulder portions (1 and 2) thereof constructed of the same design and dimensions as the corresponding lug and shoulder portions (3 and 3 i. e. the two ends of the shoe are constructed alike, and by this provision, either end may be pivoted on the pin 12 when the parts are being assembled. Also the position of the shoe may be reversed after the device has been in use and the cap engaging face of the shoe unevenly worn.

In use, the wrench is applied to a screw top as indicated in Fig. 1, and the user, by forcing the handle in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, clamps the shoe B against the jar top with its convex edge and the convex surface of the wire 13 engaged in the groove in said top. The pressure upon the handle clamps the wire and shoe firmly to said top and enables the user to obtain sufiicient leverage on said top to start it back upon the threads, or, when reversed, to screw it down tightly to secure an air-tight closure. When desired or needed, a second wrench, with shoe of form shown in Fig. 5, may be used to hold the jar. The arrangement of the point of attachment of the wire 14 to one end of the shoe, and the point of fulcrum between the shoe and the handle at the other end, equi-distant from the respective ends, is an important feature of this invention, inasmuch as it insures an even and continuous pressure throughout the entire length of the shoe and avoids forcing one corner or the other into the jar top and thus injuring the top or destroying its contour. The lines of pressure are indicated by radial dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to apertures, and a wire loop secured at one of i its ends in the other aperture and at its other end to the handle at a point adjacent to the fulcrum of the shoe, said shoe and the main part of the wire loop being adapted to be brought into circular alinement to uniformly grip the peripheral edge of a screw top, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this 16th day of February, A. D. nine teen hundred and fifteen.

EMANUEL L. FENSTERMAKER. lVitnesses:

MERLE R. BURKHART, EMMA D. RUT'I.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

